History

The road follows a 14th-century dirt track connecting Ghiyathpur (now Nizamuddin) village with the Bagh-i Jud (from which the present day Jor Bagh is derived), one of the earliest orchards mentioned in Sultanate records, before joining the larger road from Rewari and Gurgaon. It has been used by invading armies, most famously by Timur's troops in 1398.

The road has always marked a boundary between neighbouring settlements. During the 15th century it divided the Kotla Mubarakpur (of the Sayyids) from the necropolis of the Lodi. In the 16th and 17th centuries it marked the boundary between the Delhi and Mehraulitehsils. The masonry bridge over the now dried-up rivulet of Jaitpur (the village occupying the site razed by the British in 1912) is a reminder of Mughal Emperor Akbar's interest in the region. By the late 18th century the road marked the edge of the then controversial Shia enclave of Alipur, which contained the remains, houses, and troops of some estranged Persian nobles of the later Mughal court.